Estranged is a two-column theme that features large, standout headers, and easy-to read body and link text. The color scheme involves subtle shades of grey and red, with a bit of orange, and these add to that simple yet eye-catching look. The proportions of the columns and the headers are just right, making ample use of the rule of thirds popular among those in the visual arts. Contrast is just right–having adequate readability, but not at the cost of being too much of a glare. The theme also makes adequate use of white space, so the blog doesn’t look cramped.

Estranged is suitable for both personal and professional bloggers who prefer a clean looking theme with enough space for the essentials. The right sidebar is wide enough to accommodate square ad space (text links or images) up to 250 pixels in width. This is great for bloggers who would rather not stuff in too much information, but would rather present essential information in blocks. This is due to the fact that there is only one sidebar, and that the footer does not support lists or longer content than the copyright statement.

One of the great things about this project at Performancing is that we get to work with the top blog designers out there and produce really unique, quality themes. Having worked this year with Brian Gardner on four themes, Sean Rox on two themes, Design Disease and Forty Media, we are really pleased to now have gotten Thord to add to the diversity. This process is a clear vindication of responsible, quality theme sponsorship. We only allow one sponsor link and it must not be “spammy” and the users can use their discretion on whether to keep that link or not. This is clearly different from the anti-spam mission that Matt Mullenweg has been on and a policy of differentiation needs to be quickly employed within the WordPress community. Quality themes do not come cheap and nor does the time to support them post-release and if the community wants to continue to have such an array of choices for free themes, it needs to speak up now.